Breeding any animal is a big commitment, and we would suggest that anyone wishing to take on the challenge talks to a variety of breeders, and even arrange a visit to a similar set-up before taking on the challenge. There will be hard work with the extra additions, and there may be sad times when you lose an animal, but mostly you will thoroughly enjoy it.

The sows gestation period is 3 months, 3weeks and 3 days. The average litter being 7-9 piglets and although they manage with the birth very well, the mother pig can be a bit clumsy at times, so if your not on hand to watch over them, piglets can be crushed by her body weight. Handling the piglets is best left for 24-48 hours as there mother will be very protective, especially a "first timer".

If a piglet is showing signs of distress or feels cold then it may be advisable to remove it into a warm environment using a heat lamp or covered hot water bottle. If you think the sow isn’t producing enough milk, then it’s a case of bottle feeding with a substitute milk powder, which you can buy from your local farms suppliers.

It's important you keep the piglets together as much as possible, so in-between feeds place the poorly piglet back with the group, it may keep trying to get milk from mum and hopefully this will work. My experience has been that once the piglet has been bottle fed it's association with the mother becomes very limited.

Keeping all the piglets together is always the best solution. They gain a lot of knowledge from mummy pig about how to snuffle into the grass to get their iron intake, and they always pile up together to keep warm and comforted when sleeping.

Breeding Boars

A young boar won't be very fertile until around 12 months and doesn't reach maturity until 2 years of age. If you plan to buy a breeding pair you need to bear in mind they can be fertile from 6 months of age so they will need to be parted until the gilt is suitably grown to cope with a pregnancy. Putting them in a different paddock with others of the same sex is ideal then they won’t be lonely, or ideal companions for females are castrated boars.

Once a boar reaches 18months of age he starts to develop strong masculine characteristics, with a thickening of the shoulders and their tusks can now be seen protruding from the mouth. The upper tusks tend to be ground short by the action of the lower tusks, which curve upwards and then outward over a period of time.

The Kune Kune Pig Society is a great support system, particularly if you are breeding, you can find their contact details on our main pigs web page. You will have to notify the Society of all litters born to your sows and then fully Register them when they are a few months old. It is very well worth the few pounds that it costs to register your pigs. Pedigree certificates are issued by the society, showing all the history of the parentage and bloodlines.